All In with Chris Hayes: A New Live-Audience Format

The show39s new format marks another milestone for its 40yearold host whose ascent has taken him from an editor at the Chicagobased socialist magazine In These Times to Washington editor of The Nation and then amp8212 thanks to the mentorship of Rachel Maddow amp8212 to the host of the ninthhighestrated cable news show in America Time will tell whether other networks decide to follow All In39s lead when it comes to a live audience but in the meantime when watching Hayes39s new Friday shows a few things stand outThe first is how the new format makes obvious what many of us have long suspected that much of what we call quotnewsquot is really more entertainment than anything else Hayes39 new format is another step towards the ruse being up for good He bounds in like Conan O39Brien to a hootingandhollering audience and launches into his monologue Like any latenight show host worth his salt Hayes later brings in guests who sit on comfortable seats and halfjoke halfexplain what they39ve been up to Sure politicians might replace actors as guests but many of the guests chosen are political celebrities such as Representative Alexandria OcasioCortez Unlike the latenight shows however Hayes39s producers don39t invite even the occasional guest who might ruffle his audience39s feathers And most telling of all are reports that Hayes39s Friday night audiences have been warmed up beforehand by an actual comedianAnother feature of Hayes39s show that is striking is its absolute unwavering focus on covering presidential politics As is frequently observed earlier generations of Americans particularly those born before the inexorable rise of quotthe imperial presidencyquot would be astonished by how much of American national discourse focuses on our head of state This is true on both the Left and Right Washington Post media critic Erik Wemple may have been sensing this very point when describing how a relaunched Human Events was positioning itself to become a quotMAGAzinequot the implication being that a news outlet coming onto the scene in 2019 has a simple choice to make praise President Trump all day or incessantly critique himSo unlike Human Events Hayes opts for the latter and invites a parade of guests who condemn President Trump to the point that no particular charge they make stands out from any other For instance one of All In39s first Friday guests was former Obama administration photographer Pete Souza The part of that interview that would be brought into focus was Souza saying how he39d never work in a Trump White House because he doesn39t respect President Trump and doesn39t believe quothe39s a decent human beingquotClosely related to this point is a slightly more general one that Hayes39s Friday shows much like the rest of the news landscape are overwhelmingly personcentric rather than ideacentric All In is a parade of names and faces with only the occasional look at the details of an actual policy Even Hayes39s November 15 guest Representative Alexandria OcasioCortez seemed to pick up on this when she bemoaned how quotmass mediaquot would be unlikely to give her an quot8 pm timeslotquot to discuss her plan for carbon dioxide emissions and public housing Instead the studio39s screens flash with images of Representative Adam Schiff former US ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch and of course President TrumpSure impeachment might be the talk of the town in late 2019 but there are other things to talk about In our hardly bipartisan age the President just signed a federal animal cruelty bill into law and not a single member in either house of Congress voted against it What about Hong Kong And for an audience interested in hearing criticisms of President Trump why not critique the administration on its policies regarding the Saudiled intervention in Yemen a tragic situation that has seen amp8212 over the past year amp8212 an estimated 6872 civilians killed quotthe majority by Saudi Arabialed coalition airstrikesquot This terrible situation is finally attracting attention on Capitol Hill particularly among Democrats but it would benefit from even a fraction of the airtime that is given to far less urgent mattersBut the final and most important point regarding Hayes39s new format is directly related to the presence of the live studio audience Although Hayes occasionally pushes back on his guests39 claims such as when he briefly challenged Representative OcasioCortez39s characterization of White House senior advisor Stephen Miller as a quotwhite nationalistquot the presence of a live audience disincentivizes disagreeing with the proverbial quottemperature in the roomquot Good journalism requires telling hard truths but no one wants to disappoint a Friday night crowd and no performer amp8212 whether trained as a journalist or otherwise amp8212 can resist searching for the approval of the audience in front of him It39s no surprise that at present the applause lines and the laugh lines are so frequentWith respect to Brian Steinberg who pointed out in his Variety review quotSome may get them angry No matter what you hear Hayes reminds them keep in mind one rule No booingquot there39s little danger of that The show39s content is tailormade for its audience39s approval This is the case despite the fact that the best journalism tends to leave people silent or unsettled amp8212 not laughing In this sense then Hayes39 new format might actually be providing something of a public service in making crystal clear that much of what we refer to as quotnewsquot is far more entertainment than it is journalismClick the social buttons to share this story with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writers

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All In with Chris Hayes: A New Live-Audience Format

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Erich J. Prince

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All In with Chris Hayes: A New Live-Audience Format

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